Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Petra Diamonds' No. 2 shareholder dumps 70 pct stake in miner

Petra Diamonds Ltd said its second-largest
shareholder sold more than two-thirds of its stake in the diamond miner
through a placement at a discount of 12 percent to the stock's Monday
close.

The stock was down 11 percent at 193.25 pence at 1042 GMT on the
London Stock Exchange. The stock had fallen 12 percent earlier on
Tuesday on rumours of the placement.Awal Bank placed 43 million shares with UK and international
institutions at 190 pence per share or about 82 million pounds ($139
million).A further 13.2 million shares held by Awal Bank – owned by Maan
al-Sanea, the Saudi billionaire head of the Saad Group – are subject to a
90 day lock-up, Petra said in a statement.Petra's website shows that Awal Bank held 60.8 million shares or 11.9 percent in Petra through Saad Investments Co Ltd.The miner said it was unaware if the remaining 4.6 million shares held by Awal Bank were to be sold at this time.